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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Vigneault meets the media on Day 1

With the players involved in off-ice medical testing today, there were no chances to interview any of the returning or new Rangers. However, new coach Alain Vigneault did meet a media throng slightly larger than normal for the first day of a Rangers’ camp but probably smaller than what he’s used to in Vancouver.

It’s a new start for the Rangers - the players walked around with T-shirts that read, “Clean Slate…Grab It,” - though Vigneault was hesitant to call it a culture change for an organization he says has done plenty of things right throughout its history.

Quick impressions: Vigneault comes off as very composed and organized, with a strong sense of how to achieve his goals properly. He also gives you the sense that he’s a very intelligent man, even if he admitted to getting lost trying to get back home to Manhattan following yesterday’s golf outing in Westchester, N.Y., despite using a GPS. As he said, getting familiar with living in the big city will take a little time.

Beyond that, Vigneault gave, during his friendly, 20-minute session a decent outline of how he’s going to structure camp. On-ice conditioning tests will be done in three groups on Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be the start of Vigneault and his staff instructing the players in the coach’s system and philosophy. After preseason games Monday at New Jersey and Tuesday at Philadelphia, Vigneault will begin work on special teams on Wednesday.

Early this evening, Vigneault will conduct an orientation meeting.

“I’m just looking forward to getting this started,” Vigneault said. “I’ve been able to meet all our players one on one and sort of get to know them and get a feel for what they’re thinking,” Vigneault said. “Prior to our first two exhibition games we’re going to start breaking down the way we play, what we like to do with the puck, what we’d like to do without the puck, break it down in the three zones. Come September the 18th, that’ll be our first special teams day and we’re going to continue that process until we’re basically capable of touching every area we need to touch before the start of the season.

“They’re going to have an idea tonight what we’re looking for,” Vigneault added of his orientation meeting. “I’m going to lay out our immediate focus, our daily process that I like to work with our players. They’re going to have a real good ide of where the coaching staff is coming from and what we expect.”

And yes, Vigneault, whose Canucks came within a home Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup against the Bruins, will discuss the Cup and the “quest” to lift it as part of his talk with the team tonight. In fact, Vigneault says he keeps a miniature Stanley Cup on his desk in his office.

- On the idea of a fresh start - the “Clean Slate” T-shirts - for the players: “Everybody’s got a clean slate and everybody’s going to get a chance, it might not be a long chance but they’re going to get an opportunity. It’s up to them to grab it.

- On why he chose not to review game tapes of the Rangers from last season: “I had Arnie (assistant Scott Arniel) watch all of our power play, and Ulfie (assistant Ulf Samuelsson) watch all our penalty killing. If I watched an hour out of the team’s games last year, that’s the most I watched. I did it on purpose. I really want everybody to come in with a clean slate. I don’t want to come in with any preconceived notion. I want guys to have a legitimate chance.”

- Vigneault said the Rangers’ new style of play won’t be immediately obvious but will become clearer as the players become more comfortable with it. The basics are that Vigneault wants his team to “outnumber the opposition, set the tone and go on the attack.”

- On possibly not having Ryan Callahan or Carl Hagelin to start the season as they recover from offseason shoulder surgeries: “It’s no different a challenge than during the regular season. If you’re in the average of the NHL, you have an average of three guys out. Those guys aren’t here at the beginning, it’s opportunities for other guys to show what they can do.”

- On if he’s concerned with restricted free agent center Derek Stepan remaining unsigned and not reporting today: “Not at all. They’re not on the ice yet. I’ve talked to Derek a couple of times throughout the summer, he knows contracts aren’t part of my responsibility and I’m going to take him with open arms when he gets here. He wants to be here, and I know management wants him to be here also. Hopefully something will get done. If it doesn’t, it’s like the injured guys, it’s opportunities for others.”

- On if Stepan missing the start of training camp could be a detriment to him learning the new system: “It would be better if he would be here, there’s no doubt in that. We’ve got a whole new staff, there’s some new teammates, you want everybody to start together and work together to build that foundation, we’re all striving for the same goals. That being said, this is a situation that is not within my control, it’s a little bit within his control but it’s not within mine. Like I told him over the phone, I look forward to being with his coach, I look forward to working with him and when he gets here he’ll be fine.”

(By the way, that’s a far cry - in a positive way - from John Tortorella calling Brandon Dubinsky’s decision to miss the start of camp in 2009 “stupid” and further calling Dubinsky’s agent “stupid.” Dubinsky was the Rangers’ last holdout).

On Brad Richards, coming off a disappointing season that ended with him being a healthy scratch for the last two playoff games: “I told Brad, ‘turn the page. It’s in the past.’ I wasn’t here and I don’t care. Every time I’ve seen him, he seems real position, real upbeat.”

On whether he believes Richards has to re-invent himself as a player now that he’s 33: “I told him don’t worry about what’s happened in the past. He’s been an elite player for a long time. Sometimes in a career there are some ups and downs. He’s very motivated right now, he’s a real good summer of conditioning. He’s focused. What I’ve seen so far tells me he’s going to be real good for us.”

On incorporating young players into the lineup: “Talent has no age. When a player is ready to play and ready to contribute and is going to help the New York Rangers win, he’s going to get the ice time he deserves to get.”

On Marc Staal’s recovery from his right eye injury: “He told me this is as good as he’s felt in a long time. He’s looking forward to the opportunity to prove to himself to his teammates and to the new coaches that he’s a real good player.”

On Marty Biron’s unexpected absence from training camp: “Marty is dealing right now with a personal situation. I can’t get into it. I’m not exactly sure what the time frame is on that. When he does come back he’ll address it with you in the matter that he sees fit.”

On spending a good portion of the preseason away from New York: “I think for our group with new staff, some players are very young to this organization, it’s going to be a good time for us. Also (we’ll) use this time to get to know one another, there’s no better way sometimes than being on the road. I don’t know Glen Sather that well, I don’t know Jim Schoenfeld, I don’t Jeff Gorton. I’m going to get to know these guys and being on the road is probably the best way to do that.”

On balancing offense with defense: “You can’t win in this league if you don’t play well in both ends of the rink. Teams have to be able to defend and teams have to be able to score. We all have our systems that we feel give us the best opportunity. In a lineup of 20 players you obviously have some more skilled players than others. The more skilled players have to be given room to use their creativity and the guys that have a little less skill maybe have to play a more high percentage game.”

About

ANDREW GROSS covers the New York Rangers for The Record and Herald News, having joined the North Jersey Media Group in November 2007. Gross also covered the Rangers and New York Jets, as well as St. John’s basketball and Army football, for Gannett Newspapers and The Journal News (N.Y.). He graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree in newspaper journalism.